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Meera Syal’s The House of Hidden Mothers is a compelling tale of surrogacy and late parenthood.

Set in a fictional backdrop, the novel exposes cultural taboos about infertility that continue to exist in both South Asian and British Asian society today.

Known for challenging key issues surrounding the Asian community throughout her three decade career, the British Asian actress, author and comedian chats exclusively to DESIblitz to tell us more about her latest novel.

Why did the topic of surrogacy inspire you so much?

“The subject fascinates me because until I happened to stumble onto a TV doc one night, I had no that India was the world centre for surrogacy, a massive industry worth $4.5 billion annually.

“It’s the most popular place for surrogacy because it’s the cheapest and as yet not regulated.

“What would cost you $100,000 in the US will only cost about $20,000 in India, the surrogates are paid between £5,000-£7,000, not much for anyone in the West, life changing for a poor rural woman.

“So it’s one of those areas which really divides people...